News Release - Manitoba

RIO DE JANEIRO—Premier Greg Selinger today congratulated the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and its Manitoba partners on being named a member of Sustainia100, which recognizes the world’s best 100 solutions to move society toward sustainable development.

“This honour is yet another confirmation of Winnipeg-based IISD’s place as a global leader in finding made-in-Manitoba economic solutions to environmental challenges,” Selinger said. “On behalf of the Manitoba families of today and tomorrow, I thank Dr. Hank Venema, Richard Grosshans and the rest of the dedicated IISD team and its Manitoba partners for the work they are doing to preserve Lake Winnipeg, one of our greatest natural assets.”

The IISD has led a partnership that includes research with the University of Manitoba and Ducks Unlimited, and funding support from the Province of Manitoba, Manitoba Lotteries and Manitoba Hydro. The IISD’s Lake Winnipeg Bio-economy Project involves a cattail pilot initiative that harvests the common wetland plant to achieve five positive sustainable development outcomes: producing low-cost bio-energy, capturing phosphorous from waterways, recycling the phosphorous into fertilizer, producing carbon credits and enhancing wetland habitat.

The IISD, founded in 1990, is a Manitoba-based, non-partisan, public-policy research institute that conducts cutting-edge research into sustainable development. Sustainia100 is a global consortium dedicated to making sustainability more tangible and easier to grasp for both decision-makers and citizens alike. The honorary chair of the Sustainia Award Committee is former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.